● In the history of ancient India, there was a great King known as Shantanu who got
attracted to a beautiful damsel called Ganga.
○ He asked her for her hand in marriage
○ Ganga accepted, but on one condition – never question my actions
(immediately you can understand that this would lead to trouble)
○ Shantanu accepted and they got married
○ Soon they conceived their first child, Ganga did something which was
unthinkable – as the child was born, she immediately placed it on a basket and
placed that basket on the river. The child floated away.
○ Shantanu, remembering his vow – had to let the baby go.
○ They had another child. Ganga did the same.
○ 7 children were born and Ganga did the same thing.
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○ The 8th child was born and when Ganga was about to do the same thing,
Shantanu stopped her. ‘How can you do this?’ immediately after he questioned
her actions, he realised – that’s the end of the relationship.
○ Ganga went into a story explaining who these children were in their previous
lives and why she did what she did.
○ That last child was known as Bhishm and when Ganga left, she took Bhishm
with her.
● One day Shantanu was walking by the river and saw a beautiful woman called
Satyavati and desired to marry her
○ There is a previous story where Satyavati had united with Parāśara Muni and
from her the great sage Vyasadev was born
○ Because Parāśara Muni was a great sage, Satyavati’s virginity remained
○ Satyavati was a daughter of a fisherman, who said ‘i’ll give my daughter to you
in marriage provided Satyavati’s son will become the next King”
○ Bhishm realised his father was very attracted to Satyavati and made a vow of
celibacy, immediately disqualifying himself from being in line for the throne
● Time went on and Satyavati had two sons: Chitrangada and Vichitravirya, however
both died and what was worse is that they died without giving birth to any children.
● Satyavati’s other son, Vyasadev, was called upon to impregnate the 2 wives of
Vichitravirya
○ Impregnated Ambika – but she was so alarmed at the sight of the sage that
she closed her eyes when they united. Because she closed her eyes, their son
was born blind – Dhritarashtra
○ Impregnated Ambalika – managed to keep her eyes open but because she
was very nervous and shocked by the sight of Vyasadev – she became very
pale when they united; therefore their son was born pale and riddled with bad
health – Pandu
○ Impregnated the maid servant – she was very spiritually elevated and therefore
her son became a very wise and health son – Vidur
● Dhritarashtra married Gandhari and got 100 sons and 1 daughter. Those sons were
known as the Kauravas.
● Pandu met death early and his 2 wives, Kunti and Madri, were without children.
● But Kunti had a boon to summon the Gods therefore begot children from the Gods:
○ Yudhishthira
○ Bhima
○ Arjuna
● Kunti provided the same facility to Madri
○ Nakula
○ Sahadeva
● Therefore they were known as the Pandavas
● Because Pandu had departed the world and Vidhur was a son of a maid servant, none
of them could become kings. Therefore there was no other choice but Dhritarashtra to
temporarily take the throne although he was blind.
● Sons of Dhritarashtra tried to kill the sons of Pandu because they realised that when
Yudhishthira was old enough, he would be the natural person to take up the throne.
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● Dhritarashtra was more interested in his son, Duryodhana, taking up the throne.
Therefore with the help of Shakuni, who was the brother of Dhritarashtra’s wife
Gandhari, they began plotting to kill the Pandavas.
○ They tried many things, nothing worked
○ Eventually the had this gambling match
○ They exiled the Pandavas to the forest for many year
● Finally, Pandavas came back and tried to reach a truce with the Kauravas so they
could share the kingdom
● Kauravas did not agree and were unwilling to relinquish the throne.
● Finally there was no solution, the Pandavas and Kauravas had to go to war to find out
who would be the next rulers of the Kingdom.
● Therefore we arrived at Kurukshetra where soldiers from across the world had either
aligned with Pandavas or Kauravas. This would be the greatest battle in the universe.
● Arjuna, the archer of the Pandavas, was considered the most mightiest warrior – his
skill and acumen was unparalleled. And he was accompanied by Krishnas as his
charioteer.
● The war is about to start, and just before it was about to start, Arjuna had a moment
where he wanted to ask some questions to Krishna about what is going on – that is the
place we reach. The beginning of the Bhagavad Gita.